Knowledge at a Price
by evamntheawesome
Summary: All knowledge comes at a price. What would you pay?
1. Chapter 1

Knowledge at a price

_When the Devil reappeared, he called himself Mephistopheles and had a human shape… "Why do you summon me, Faust? What do you want?" _

"_Knowledge," said Faust. "Knowledge and power."_

_Dr. Faust, a German legend_

Wilson

I knew I shouldn't have listened to the man through the radio. I never should've accepted his knowledge. All he wanted, he said, has for one little machine to be built, then I could share my smarts with the world. The man through the radio told me each step, and if I had paid closer attention and not been distracted by my newfound intelligence, I would've seen that this was a contraption of a demon.

As it was, I gratefully helped the entity that made brilliant blueprints swirl around in my head, getting the cogs and metal that where needed for the contraption he needed built. When it was finished, I was beginning to get my doubts. After all, I didn't know what this machine did. I was thinking of disassembling the thing when the radio told me to flip the switch. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and pulled.

I opened my eyes after a few seconds and saw the machine cough, sputter, then roar to life. It made a face with a long chin and devilish eyes and was displaying an evil smile. The shadows of everything around me turned into long arms, their hands gripping me tight around the ankles and dragging me down, down, down…

The last thing I saw was the face that I built cackling at my defeat.


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry, I forgot the author's note at the start of the last chapter. Anyways, I'm new to the FanFic community and this is my first story. Constructive criticism is welcome and all that good stuff. Enjoy!

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_Wilson POV_

I awoke on my back, in a grassy field with rabbits frolicking about, their rabbit holes everywhere. I was aching all over, and was trying to get up when I heard a voice, the same one from that damned radio, saying,"Say pal, you don't look so good. you better find something to eat before night comes" I sat up just in time to see a tall man with a distinct chin wearing a suit sink into the ground. I stood all the way up and took a good look around.

Short, golden grass was in my immediate area, and to my left a great forest. There where no familiar landmarks to indicate where I was, and I was beginning to wonder if I was even in England. But I would deal with that when I was safe and made camp. I let my Boy Scout instincts kick in and gathered anything that would help me. Tall grass, twigs from saplings, and even a carrot that I was lucky enough to stumble upon. I started to run through my head what I needed for a night in the wilderness.

I had enough materials for a small fire, or perhaps a crude torch. A single carrot wouldn't last me long and the local rabbits where too damn fast, so meat was not on the menu. Wandering around some more, I found some safe looking berries and pocketed them as well. I continued to gather twigs, grass, food, anything that could help me survive the night. I settled down where I awoke, took everything out from my pockets, and laid them out in front of me.

Shelter was out of the question, but I had warm enough clothing on my back to keep me from freezing. I needed to look for more food if I was going to stay here for a long time. It was getting dark, so I started my abysmal fire with sticks and grass, then sat by it for warmth. As the sun hid below the horizon, I saw how dark it truly was. My excuse of a fire made a circle of light two meters wide, pitch blackness outside of it. The full moon seemed to do little more than be seen by my eyes; It illuminated nothing as I watched it make it's stellar progress.

Now that I was safe, I began to ponder why that demon, Maxwell he called himself, took me here. Was it punishment for all the experiments that I preformed? People did call them inhumane, even though I was preforming them on small animals. Was it because I was going to discover something he wanted hidden? Or was I part of some experiment? The sun rose, dragging me from my thoughts. I got up and stomped out my fire and thought, if I was going to live here, I needed to know the land. After eating the berries I found earlier, I began to explore.

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Hello, hope my story wasn't a load of crap. Anyways, leave some reviews, fav the story if you like it. Updates will be weekly-ish. Bye!


	3. Chapter 3

So because of the positive reviews, I decided to update now instead of this weekend. Keep up the reviews, follows, and favs, and you get an early update! Anyways, a much longer chapter and new character introduced. Enjoy!

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_Wilson P.O.V_

The area I was in was rather strange. The forest to the west that I had seen earlier was filled with saplings, berry bushes, even grounded beehives, things that aren't exactly out of place. However, I did manage to find some flint. This was unusual, as flint was usually found by rushing water or construction sites, and this place looked like it had never been either. Nevertheless, I pocketed it, remembering how before metal was discovered, flint was used instead. I gathered more of it, as well as more twigs and long grass.

I returned to my still burning fire, my pockets bulging with things that I had no use for yet. With that in mind, I sat on the rough grass and thought. The long grass seemed thick enough to bind things together; not rope-like, but I needed to improvise. The sticks where flimsy, but I could bind them together with grass to make a sturdy tool handle. Flint could be sculpted into weapon and tool heads.

This idea was incorporated to make an ax and, after four attempts, I finally managed to make a good one. I then chopped down some trees, thinking about how this would help my fire get bigger and making sure to replant some pine cones. I was just about to sit on a stump and rest for while when I saw a forest fire near the heart of the forest.

Had there been another forest, I would have simply left and let nature take it's course. But because this was my only source of wood, I ran towards the flames, hoping to beat out the flames or at least contain them. As I got closer, I heard a young woman weeping. Was Maxwell so cold hearted that he would leave a person, a young lady at that, to burn in a forest fire?

I was in the inferno now, searching for the source of the crying. The smoke rendered everything but my hearing inert; I didn't know how much longer I could last in these conditions. Dodging the flaming charcoal trees, I heard the sobbing grow louder and louder until I was face to face with her.

She wore a long black skirt and a collared red cotton shirt. Her hair was dark like mine, but longer and in curls on each side of her head. Right now, she was leaning against a large boulder, sobbing. She seemed to not care about the fire around her. As I approached her, she turned around, saw me and punched me right in my face.

"MAXWELL!"

I was dragged to the boulder, pushed against it and punched again, this time in the gut.

"WHY THE HELL DID YOU SEND ME HERE?" she screamed, still pummeling me in the ribs, a fire in her eyes greater than the one around us."YOU NEVER TOLD ME WHAT THAT DAMN THING DID! DRAGGING ME INTO THIS FOREST TO FEND FOR MYSELF!? THAT WAS NEVER PART OF THE DEAL! YOU BRING ME HERE, SAYING TO GET SOME FOOD BEFORE NIGHTFALL! WHEN I'M DONE WITH YOU, THE ONLY THING YOU'LL BE EATING IS YOUR OWN-"

She stopped, as still as the rock that I was now coughing blood on, close to passing out.

"You're not him, are you?" she whispered, making more of a statement than a question.

"No," I coughed, bringing up more blood, the lack of oxygen from the still burning forest fire not helping.

There was a pause. We looked at each other, her to embarrassed to speak, me being barely able to breathe. As the sun set, I broke the tension.

"Can... can you get me back to my base? It's just east of here, away from the setting sun."

She nodded. I put my arm over her shoulder, fighting to stay conscious. She could tell that I was struggling and said, "Rest. I can carry you to your base."

I nodded, but wanted to ask one question. "What is your name?"

"Willow," she whispered

"Mine is Wilson" I coughed, letting my heavy eyelids close over my vision.

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Yay, another person in the story! No more monologues! Hope you liked this longer chapter, folks. See you next time!


	4. Chapter 4

Yay! My story doesn't suck ass! P.S. My computer is kinda broken, thus the irregular updates. but I will upload more chapters to compensate.

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_Willow P.O.V-Day 2, Dusk_

I dragged Wilson back trough the fire, towards where he said his camp was. You may have thought me brave to trudge through that fire, but the truth was that I felt nothing. For as long as I could remember, I have had a strange attraction towards fire. It looked beautiful, it never hurt me, and I felt warm and safe around it. Unlike Mother. She hated it when I was around fire, she thought me to be the devil's kin rather that her own. She left me in an orphanage, the orphanage threw me into the world.

Everyone feared me, nobody would go near me. I was managing alright in terms of money, but had no friends. A young adult, and a female at that, all alone in the world would make zero progress. I was scared and hid in my flat to avoid being criticized and threatened, excluded for being "the local demon". Then I met Maxwell. He promised me a new life and, in a way, I did get what I was promised.

But the past is the past, and right now I was sitting at Wilson's camp, staring into the fire that I had so effortlessly created with his logs and grass, thinking. If this was my do-over at life, my second chance, I wanted to make it count. I had set Wilson down earlier and tended his wounds the best that I could, healing the bruises that I myself had inflicted in my time of confusion.

As I removed his shirt to tend to him, I saw, in his pocket, some grass, twigs, pine cones, a few sharp stones, and a shoddy ax that wouldn't look out of place in a museum. I studied the ax closely, thinking, if I was going to survive here any longer, I needed to make tools like Wilson. I spent all night practicing, trying to copy Wilson's ax.

_Wilson-Day 3, Sunrise_

I awoke back at my camp, blinking at the brightness of the morning sun. Willow had my ax and seemed to be replicating it. I got up slowly, grabbing my side, and tapped her on the shoulder. She jumped, turned around, then sighed. "Morning Wilson," she whispered, not quite meeting my eyes. She must have been nervous at my reaction to her assault last night, so I decided to settle the matter. "No hard feelings Willow, the past is the past. Clean slate." She smiled, nodded, then continued trying to replicate my ax. After watching her fail for a few minutes, I helped her make a good one; showing her how to shape the flint, bind the sticks, and make a handle.

This seemed to cheer her up a bit, and she had made a very well-made ax by noon. "Hey Wilson," asked Willow "should we be getting food? I am feeling a bit peckish." "Sure," I replied, getting up from the ground. "Should we split up and cover more ground?"she suggested. " I could go east through the forest again and see what I can find." I nodded and watched her disappear into the trees, her ax in hand.

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Moar chapters this weekend. Sorry bout my computer breaking. thnx 4 reviews and favs


	5. Chapter 5

Here is a chapter. It's longer than the others and was hard to make. Hope you enjoy all of it (if you know what I mean)

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_Wilson P.O.V_

I went north, trudging through the short, dry grass in my search for some food. There where some more carrots and even more rabbit holes. I picked up a few carrots and was about to eat them raw when I paused. Rabbit loved carrots. Perhaps I could trap them. I placed a carrot half a meter away from the nearest rabbit hole and waited. After a minute, a rabbit poked it's head out of it's hole, noticed the food, and began to inch towards it, disregarding my presence. It finally reached the carrot and began to nibble on it. I ran towards the rabbit and swung at it with my ax.

The rabbit had just finished it's meal and noticed my weapon. But he wasn't fast enough. My ax found it's mark and decapitated the rabbit. I was about to skin the rabbit when the fur disappeared, revealing a piece of meat skewered on a bone, almost comically. I began to contemplate how this was even remotely possible, but my stomach told me to simply shut up and get more food. However, I was not satisfied with how close the rabbit came to escaping. A trap of some sort would be more efficient. My plan was to prop a basket up on a stick and plant bait inside. Taking the grass from my pockets, I began to weave baskets.

_Willow P.O.V_

I was walking through the forest, listening to the birds chirping. I wandered around, trying to relocate the burnt trees that circled the boulder. I hoped that the charcoal that the trees became would be useful for fire. Finally, I found it. The thin, black trees went around the boulder, a reminder of what she had nearly done. "I wish they where still burning..." I whispered, my fingertips glowing, sparks licking the tree remains...

_No,_ I thought, keeping myself from burning the area again. _If I keep giving in to my urges again, I'll never be normal. _I pulled out my ax, watching the burnt tree falling into a neat pile of charcoal with one swift chop. I collected it all of it, then faced the rock. If I could break it down, the rocks would be quite useful. I sat down and began to make a pickaxe.

_Wilson_

The two traps that I had made had worn down to frayed bits of grass, but it was well worth it. I now had a dozen pieces of meat, but had used up all but two of my carrots. I walked back to camp, feeling very good about myself. We had food, shelter wasn't necessary, and I was still sane. Of course, being a scientist, I have gone insane before. When my experiments failed (which was almost always, aside from the hair growing elixir that had spilled on my face, forcing me to shave almost weekly) I sometimes tried to make senseless theories, hypotheses, and equations, in hopes that they would make more sense than the ones that I used for failed experiments.

I guess that it was this frustration that had driven me here in the first place. If I ever got out of this place that Maxwell had put me in, I wouldn't kill him. I would make him relive the experience that I was living right now. That wasn't saying much right now, seeing as I was healthy and not starving. But Maxwell would, no doubt, throw more obstacles in my way to try and make me suffer, and I would make sure to bring them right back to him.

I arrived back at camp just as the sun touched the horizon to find Willow making a fire pit out of rocks. "Hello, Willow," I said, sitting on a log and watching her work. "Where did you find those rocks?" She told me about making a pickaxe and breaking down rocks. But I could tell that she was hiding something. You didn't need to be a psychologist to notice her discomfort via body language.

"Hey Wilson, how did you end up here?"

Willow's question brought me back to earth. Or wherever this place was. "Well, I asked for some forbidden knowledge. After Maxwell gave it to me, he asked for a machine to be built. I foolishly did and it dragged me here. How about you? What did Maxwell promise you?" She hesitated, and I knew instantly that she was about to tell me a lie or a truth that she didn't want told. After a long, uncomfortable pause, she said, "Fine. Let me finish this fire pit and I'll show you. You may want to stand back..."

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Dun Dun DUNNN! What will Wilson think of Willow after she reveals her secret? Will he label her as a freak? Will he accept her despite her nature? Will my ass stop itching? Find out next time.


	6. Chapter 6

For a first, this seems to be doing very well. But I need help with the story. What would you guys like to see? I might have pairings, Wolfgang/Wendy and Wilson/Willow are the ones in my head, but if you want it flipped, just ask. Chester may even get a pall...

Also, I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sorry for the delay. What with moving, school preparation, and lack of internet, I barely had time.

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_Willow-Night 3_

I couldn't believe what I had just said. I was about to tell Wilson, a person who I had met little more than a day ago, a secret that I had kept so well for over twenty years. People back home did have their suspicions, what with me being orphaned and my peculiar behavior, but nobody truly knew. But I was in a place where none of that mattered. Maxwell had isolated us, and Wilson was the only person I had to call friend. I just didn't care anymore. Besides, he was bound to find out regardless.

I finished making the fire pit and turned to Wilson. "Please, _please, _don't tell anybody what you're about to see" I begged.

"Oh," muttered Wilson, hanging his head down. "That's a shame. I was going to tell this rock, you see."

_Very funny_ I thought, turning back to the fire pit. I placed a few pieces of charcoal and put my hand over it. My hand began to glow, and sparks licked the black chunk, igniting it. Wilson, who was looking over my shoulder, gasped.

For a moment, It looked as though Wilson was paralyzed with shock. His mouth was still open as he gazed into the now blazing fire. I wouldn't expect him to easily accept that magic existed, but he continued to stare for a full minute, until I finally waved my hand over his glazed eyes, getting his attention. "Are you alright?" I asked, still wondering what his reaction would be. "It all makes sense..." he said under his breath, his eyes meeting mine, a smile gracing across his face. "The blueprints that Maxwell put in my mind, they are possible! They are powered by magic and magic exists! I can do more research and make wonderful things that will aid us in our survival! And all I need to start is some gold. But where can I find some?"

I gasped, remembering the boulder that I broke down earlier. One of the rock pieces seemed a bit shiny, but I hadn't given it much thought; at the time I was thinking about what to do with them. I took that rock out from my pocket and dusted it off to reveal a whole, precious nugget of gold. Wilson let out a joyous laugh and jumped into the air, snatching the chunk of metal. He then insisted that I get sleep while he worked, an offer that I was more than happy to accept. He sent me of to bed with a few pieces of meat. I nibbled a bit before passing out by the fire.

_Wilson_

Time to go to work.

I inspected the plans for machines in my head, bringing up the one that required the gold. It seemed to bring knowledge to whoever stood near it, unlocking more items to aid our survival. The first thing I needed where logs. I took some lying in a neat pile on the ground and split them in half. They weren't refined to planks of wood, but they would have to do. I arranged some of them into a tripod tied together with braided grass/rope. I then made two platforms raft style and placed one on the tripod, bumpy side down. On this platform, I stacked rocks in a way not unlike a well top; like a fire pit at first, but more rings atop the previous one, making a cylinder.

Now came the tricky part. Gold is a soft metal, so after a tricky semi-melting process, (which included my already half-grown beard being singed) I had an imperfect ball of metal that was still warm. I carefully carved marks and circles into the ball, carefully recalling each one, placed it in his hand-built container and placed the wood lid.

I couldn't wait to test it out, but I was a human, and humans have pesky bodily functions to attend to, like sleep. I rested my head on the soft dirt and was asleep in an instant.

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This chapter wasn't as good or as long as I liked it to be, but I just had to get one out after a long period of absence, which I again apologize for. See you in a week or so!

Also thank you to _everyone _reviewed, faved, followed, all that good stuff. Send me a private message if you have any recommendations.


	7. Chapter 7

I'm retiring this story. This was honestly just an experimental piece on how people liked my writing style, and I am surprised that this many people liked this story with it's short chapters and it's infrequent updates. But now that I know that I'm a half-descent writer, I'll be making better, longer stories. Thank you to all those who followed and favorited me this story, and let's end this mediocre story in style.

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When morning came, Willow was all like, "Wtf happened last night" cause Wilson wuz on top of her and dry humped her while she was sleeping then passed out so Willow did some friggin fatality that burned his skinny ass to a krisp then Maxwell popped up sayin "Da faq Willow y u kill Wilson I wuz gonna kill his ass" then Willow went all super sayan mode and burned that entire shadow dimension place down killing everybody even Wolfgang and Wendy who popped out of some portal then Wendy offered Wolfgang a hamburger then Wolfgang said "bitch please" and punched her friggin head off then he burned into ashes along with the entire multiverse.

The Emd

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Damn straight.

P.S. Check out my FictionPress account under the same name.


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